Experiential Learning

The faculty and administration at Arizona Summit Law School (Summit) believe that to educate law graduates who are professionally prepared, students must be exposed to practical skills and ethical instruction in a variety of different ways: externships, workshops, classes and mentoring.

Clinical Programs

Through clinical experience, each student gets an opportunity to demonstrate improved skills of learning from practice and develop a strong commitment to the value of lifelong learning in the practice of law. Summit clinics involve both a classroom component — where students learn practice aspects of an area of law — and fieldwork, in which students represent actual clients under the supervision of experienced law school faculty. Students may be required to maintain regular office hours in the clinic on-site at the law school, or their fieldwork may take them to other locations to meet with individual clients or parties. Work in our clinics may also take students into local Justice Courts, State Superior Court, Federal District, Bankruptcy or Immigration Court, or state or federal administrative tribunals. In some instances, students must be eligible for certification under Arizona Student Practice Rule 38(d) to enroll.

Rule 38(d) Certification requires a student to have completed three full-time terms in law school and have completed or be enrolled in Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Professional Responsibility and Evidence.

Mediation Clinic

This clinic is designed for students who have already taken the basic Mediation course and been certified. The clinic will provide students with the opportunity to practice their skills in real mediations. Students will mediate neighborhood disputes and participate in the Maricopa County Justice Court Mediation Program. Students may also conduct family law mediations during the second half of the term and will have the opportunity to co-mediate employment discrimination cases with the full-time mediators at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The classroom component requires meeting twice per week and will expose the student to advanced mediation knowledge and skills.

American Indian Wills Clinic

This clinic is designed for students who have taken or who will be enrolled in the Trusts and Estates course. In the American Indian Wills clinic, students will have the opportunity to learn will-drafting skills and be introduced to the Federal Indian Probate Reform Act, which raises special estate-planning considerations for American Indians in the disposition of their trust property. The course will culminate in the interviewing of American Indian clients and then drafting their wills. Students must be eligible for certification under Arizona Student Practice Rule 38(d).

Domestic Violence Protection Order Clinic

This clinic is designed for students who have taken or will be enrolled in the Family Law course. Students will learn about domestic violence (DV), how to interview DV victims, and the law and procedure related to Domestic Violence Protection Orders, including how to prepare a Protection Order Petition. Students will then meet a domestic violence victim living in a DV shelter, interview the client, prepare a Protection Order Petition for the client, and accompany the client to court to present the petition. For cases in which the client has obtained a Protection Order that is being contested by the defendant, students will represent the client at the evidentiary hearing, which involves the presentation of evidence through witnesses and documents, and the cross-examination of the opposing party and his witnesses. Students must be eligible for certification under Arizona Student Practice Rule 38(d).

Human Services Campus Homeless Legal Assistance Clinic

The Human Services Campus (Campus) Homeless Legal Assistance Clinic will provide students with practical legal experience in a nontraditional setting. Specifically, students will work with members of the homeless population at the campus in downtown Phoenix. Every day, the campus serves hundreds of individuals who are experiencing homelessness. As a result, this clinic will expose students to a range of legal matters that may change from day to day or even client to client. Students will attend class three times per week on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. During the first week of classes, students will attend an orientation at the campus to become familiar with the population, the goals of the campus and the services offered. Students will also begin to receive training in the areas of law in which their campus clients are likely to have the most questions. Students will start meeting with clients on the campus during the second week of the term. Students will work at the campus two mornings per week — meeting clients to assess their needs, providing legal advice where appropriate or referring the client to other resources in the community. Students will meet in the clinic on the law school campus on Friday mornings to continue their training around particular legal issues confronting homeless individuals and to consider the larger legal, political and policy issues that surround the problem of eliminating homelessness in our communities. Students must have taken or be enrolled in the Interviewing and Counseling course to enroll in this clinic. Students must also be eligible for certification under Arizona Student Practice Rule 38(d).

This clinic is designed for students who have taken or enrolled in the Family Law course. Students in the Family Law Clinic will have the opportunity to represent clients seeking dissolutions of their marriages and resultant parenting plans and child support orders with respect to the residential care of their children. Students will participate in a classroom component that will focus on the practice aspects of family law in Arizona and Maricopa County, interviewing and counseling skills, the provision of unbundled or limited representation services, information related to family violence and alternative dispute resolution methods for family law matters. In addition to the classroom component, students will be expected to spend 12 hours each week in the clinic office, generally in blocks of two to four hours spread over three different days. Students need not be eligible for certification under Arizona Student Practice Rule 38(d) to enroll; however, only Rule 38(d) students will be allowed to represent our clients in court and provide legal advice.

Bankruptcy Clinic

We are the Arizona Summit Law School Bankruptcy Clinic and our mission is to educate and assist with the filing of your chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is not an easy process; significant time and commitment will be required. We understand the emotions that come along with Bankruptcy. You might be stressed, afraid, or even being harassed by creditors. That is why we will assist you through the process by way of educational videos, the gathering of your financial records, and providing helpful information about what to expect throughout your Bankruptcy.

Explore Arizona Summit

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